Oh dear...
All that talk of winning the Ashes does seem very premature now, doesn't it? Whoever arranged a victory parade really shouldn't have told anyone. It wasn't as if the Australians were about to roll over, not like our middle order did yesterday. My hankering after Thorpey a couple of posts ago now seems quite prescient. Like a new ball, Pietersen is beginning to lose his lacquer. Not only was he bowled by a very average delivery, he then proceeded to reexamine it like it was the ball of this century. Did he fool anyone? As for Bell... well... maybe it was another leg break which didn't turn and not a misread slider.
Strauss' innings was a triumph, under that kind of pressure, when all around him were losing their heads, after the Australians had claimed (justifiably it seemed) to have worked him out earlier in the series. If he could only survive towards the end of a day after a long innings, then he would be a fantastic batsman. Even so, that kind of fault really isn't too serious.
For some reason, I have a feeling that the King of Spain might make a few this morning. I'm quietly confident of our reaching 400. I doubt that that will be enough though. The wicket is flat, the outfield like lightening. We're lacking a frontline bowler.
Now, I know it's too late, but to return to that selection debate, there are three circumstances, I think, in which it is sensible to pick just four bowlers (selectors take note). The first is when you don't have a bowler or wicket keeper good enough to bat in the top six, the second when your four bowlers are exceptional and reliable (as Australia's have been for the past decade or so), the third is when the wicket is very helpful to the bowlers, meaning that a fifth bowler is unlikely to be needed. Shit... Aggers was saying on the radio that the fourth seamer often only bowls 10 overs in a day. Maybe, but 10 overs is 10 more than none, and anyway, the identity of that "fourth seamer" isn't a given. For the first three tests of this series it was Hoggard. When it doesn't swing, he's vulnerable. Will it swing at the Oval? I hope so. I also hope that Harmison's on form... and the Fred meister. The King of Spain will be, as ever, imperious.
I've just had another look at the 5 day weather forecast for sw9. An hour ago, rain was forecast today. Now there's a big sun where a black cloud used to be. It doesn't like much play will be lost during the subsequent three days either. Oh dear...
Strauss' innings was a triumph, under that kind of pressure, when all around him were losing their heads, after the Australians had claimed (justifiably it seemed) to have worked him out earlier in the series. If he could only survive towards the end of a day after a long innings, then he would be a fantastic batsman. Even so, that kind of fault really isn't too serious.
For some reason, I have a feeling that the King of Spain might make a few this morning. I'm quietly confident of our reaching 400. I doubt that that will be enough though. The wicket is flat, the outfield like lightening. We're lacking a frontline bowler.
Now, I know it's too late, but to return to that selection debate, there are three circumstances, I think, in which it is sensible to pick just four bowlers (selectors take note). The first is when you don't have a bowler or wicket keeper good enough to bat in the top six, the second when your four bowlers are exceptional and reliable (as Australia's have been for the past decade or so), the third is when the wicket is very helpful to the bowlers, meaning that a fifth bowler is unlikely to be needed. Shit... Aggers was saying on the radio that the fourth seamer often only bowls 10 overs in a day. Maybe, but 10 overs is 10 more than none, and anyway, the identity of that "fourth seamer" isn't a given. For the first three tests of this series it was Hoggard. When it doesn't swing, he's vulnerable. Will it swing at the Oval? I hope so. I also hope that Harmison's on form... and the Fred meister. The King of Spain will be, as ever, imperious.
I've just had another look at the 5 day weather forecast for sw9. An hour ago, rain was forecast today. Now there's a big sun where a black cloud used to be. It doesn't like much play will be lost during the subsequent three days either. Oh dear...
posted by djbrd at 8:57 am
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